Mr. Laurence W. Fredrick

Laurence William Fredrick (“Larry” or “Fred”), 96, of Charlottesville passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 19th. Born in 1927 in East Stroudsburg, PA, he was the son of Grace Mary Slider Fredrick and Ishmael Theodore Fredrick. Larry’s father died in 1935, and Larry and his two brothers were placed in the Hershey Industrial School (now the Milton Hershey School) in Hershey, PA. After graduating in 1945, Larry served three years in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Winter Harbor ME and Adak, AK. Laurence and Frances Irene Schwenk of Hershey, PA were married in Hershey in 1949. Larry attended Hershey Community College for a year and then transferred to Swarthmore College from which he received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1952. He worked as an actuary in the Philadelphia insurance Industry for two years and then returned to Swarthmore to earn his Masters in Astronomy. Larry went on to earn a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania (1959). During his studies he helped lead total solar eclipse expeditions to the Shetland Islands, Scotland (1954) and to Thailand (1955). After completing his degree, Larry was pleased to continue his research at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. In 1962 he was hired to lead the Astronomy Department at the University of Virginia and in January 1963 he and his family moved to Charlottesville. Larry built the UVA Astronomy Department from a small, isolated group into a world-renowned program, a success Fredrick would often say was made possible by hiring the best scientists in the world.

One of the highlights of his years in the Astronomy Department was the acquisition and establishment of a 32” reflector telescope in an old apple orchard atop Fan Mountain far enough south of Charlottesville to reduce light pollution as a research interference. A fun teaching highlight was the semester Fredrick taught an astronomy class for NASA technicians and engineers on Wallops Island, eastern shore VA, to which he was transported each week, in those pre-Zoom days, by small airplane. Fredrick was, as he described it, the “token astronomer’ in the NASA group charged with determining the Apollo landing sites on the moon.

In 1963, Larry wrote and presented a study to the Langley Research Center describing how a large space-based telescope could be used for astronomical research. The result of this and continued work with others was the approval for, the development of and finally the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. Fredrick spent several decades as part of the Hubble astrometry support team until the group disbanded a few years after the telescope launch in 1990.

Fredrick had several sabbatical appointments during his UVA tenure, advancing aspects of his research in Vienna, in Garching outside of Munich, and in Australia observing in the southern skies at Siding Spring and Mount Stromlo Observatories.

Fredrick’s involvement in his professional societies included a 12-year stint as the secretary of the American Astronomical Society and as a member of the governing board of the American Institute of Physics. Fredrick was elected Alumnus of the Year of the Milton Hershey School in 1961 and fellow of the AAAS in 1966.

Fredrick retired from teaching in 1995, was named Professor Emeritus, and was feted with a symposium in his honor in July of that year. He continued to advise graduate students and remain involved with activities in the astronomy department for many years.

In his free time, Larry was a photographer of earth-based scenes, and he was a passionate golfer, based at Farmington in Charlottesville but playing on courses around the United States and in Europe and Australia. Always an avid UVA sports fan, Larry spent many decades attending football and basketball games as well as the occasional baseball and soccer game.

Larry is survived by his children Laura Fredrick Marek, Ames, IA, Theodore (Ted) D. Fredrick and wife Wyndy Earle Fredrick, Herndon, VA and Rebecca (Becky) L. Mesarch and husband Michael Mesarch, Cape St. Claire, MD, eight grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. One sister, Roberta Riegel of Huntersville, NC also survives him. He was predeceased by his wife Frances, his two brothers, and a sister.

The family will host a celebration of Larry’s life at Leander McCormick Observatory in August.

In lieu of flowers. memorial contributions can made in his honor to the Friends of Leander McCormick Observatory, University of Virginia Astronomy Department (https://astronomy.as.virginia.edu/friends-mccormick-observatory). The family sincerely thanks the staff at the Colonnades, Hospice of the Piedmont, and Attentive Quality Care who helped make Larry comfortable during his final weeks.